In wireless networks, Baseband Units (or BBU's) send and receive data to the transmit/receive radios typically deployed at cell sites. In more traditional networks, these BBUs are collocated at the cell site with the radios they serve. In newer network architectures, BBU's from multiple sites are ‘pooled’ into groups that are centrally located and serve multiple cell sites. This architecture is referred to as Cloud RAN, or C-RAN. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary C-RAN arrangement 300, which includes a central office 302, a C-RAN hub 304 that houses the BBUs, and a series of antenna towers 306 that are fed by the C-RAN hub 304 via fiber optic cables 308 (wherein one or more cabinets 310 may be present at each antenna tower 306).
The pooled BBUs housed in the C-RAN hub 304 mentioned above must be housed in an outdoor enclosure or building of some type. In particular, outdoor electronic cabinets have become popular in recent years. They can protect a wide range of electronic equipment including radios, multicarrier power amplifiers (MCPA), power supplies, batteries, and wireless cell site backhaul equipment. These cabinets can protect base station equipment from environmental conditions while minimizing operating expenses and energy consumption.